Bleeding Black and Yellow
by Cadid423
Summary: "In many, many ways, Hufflepuff is my favourite House. My oldest child said something very profound to me... she said, 'I think we should all want to be Hufflepuffs.' I can only say to you, that I would not be at all disappointed to be sorted into Hufflepuff House." - JK Rowling, Harry Potter: Beyond the Page. Written for the 'Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp Challenge'.
1. Solace

Title: Bleeding Black and Yellow

Prompt: one of my entries for the 'Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp challenge' - Solace

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please don't sue me.

* * *

On September 1st, 1998, it's not for the first time that Wayne Hopkins finds himself deeply irritated with the method used to enter the Hufflepuff Common Room.

It's slow going as the first years crawl through the barrel in single file, half looking apprehensive, half looking reassured as the seventh-years stand guard.

By some weird fluke, Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott end up heading the large group of badgers trudging slowly towards the kitchens. Upon reaching the familiar barreled entrance, Ernie steps forward, raps out the required rhythm authoritively, and moves back to flank the opening like a bodyguard.

Hannah copies his stance on the other side of the door automatically, her instincts long since honed to remember the guarding pose from last year, and it takes the duo a tense few seconds of awkward silence before they realize their mistake. However, before they can rectify their faux pas, Susan Bones and Zacharias Smith separate themselves from the crowd and take similar secondary positions.

The younger years crowd into the hallway: the closest unsure if they have permission to go inside and the stragglers confused by the hold up. Wayne waits calmly for Megan Jones to push her way one-armed to the front, and together, they take the third position.

Stephen, Justin, and Sally-Anne aren't familiar with the defensive stance that comes so easily to their experienced year mates, but that by no means stops them from joining in, though ununiform and imperfect their poses may be. Soon, the ten person seventh year class has created a tunnel of safety for their younger housemates to move through, each one with their wands drawn, all prepaired for even the slightest possibility of attack.

And the advanced security is completely unnecessary, but the returning students are familiar with the sight, and the few scattered students who aren't are wise enough not to comment.

Because the war is over… but old habits die hard.

(_No one's_ managed to escape unscathed.)

(It's the little things that offer some solace.)

* * *

**These are just fun little Hufflepuff diddy's. Don't expect them to get longer than drabble length, but I might occasionally surprise you. :)**


	2. What If?

Title: Bleeding Black and Yellow

Prompt: Prompt: one of my entries for the 'Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp challenge' - What If?

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please don't sue me.

* * *

Within the home of the just and the fair,

Three aged badgers struggle vainly to breathe.

To grow from strife they were once forced to bear,

Will be more painful than it originally seemed.

Healing fresh wounds that aren't all just skin deep,

As war is a challenge no man asks to face.

Like a many legged insect the depression creeps,

Hurting by helping as he loses his place.

Brace yourselves badgers, for you won't realize yet,

While you calm war-singed nerves, details pass you by.

You won't understand how to protect from this threat;

Learn to always be worried when Hufflepuffs lie.

When a trio is forged through hardship and commitment,

They are always believed to withstand 'till forever.

As he doubts in himself he seeds doubt in his judgment,

And differences learned can cause old ties to sever.

Because what happens next? You will never forget,

For tragedy strikes when one least expects.

* * *

**This was part of the original backstory for 'Below the Water's Surface', and later, 'Whistle Your Way Home'. Looking back on it, I don't like this poem as much as I originally did, but I felt like this was a good place for it.**


	3. Stars

Title: Bleeding Black and Yellow

Prompt: one of my entries for the 'Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp challenge' – Stars and 'HedwigBlack's Wee…er…MONTHLY Challenge' on the HPFC

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please don't sue me.

* * *

When Susan Bones finds out that her Aunt Amelia's been murdered, she spends the following night sitting in front of her open bedroom window, crying her eyes out.

Though Susan is certainly no stranger to the concept of death in the family, this one is different. Uncle Edgar died when she was a baby, and though she wishes he was still around, Susan never really got the chance to know him. Aunt Amelia on the other hand was someone Susan grew up with, someone she's spent Christmas and Easter with, someone she loved and respected, someone whose death will greatly impact Susan's life.

(Someone that, despite her high profile, dangerous job andthe upcoming war, Susan thought would just always be around.)

Shivering slightly despite the warm summer night breeze, the redhead wraps her quilted blanket tighter around her shoulders. This action doesn't help much, not that Susan really expected it to.

(It's her insides that are icy and cold, not her outsides.)

She stares up at the endless sky, inky black except for the twinkling white pinpricks scattered sparsely throughout. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Susan knows that Aunt Amelia is only the beginning; that more and more of the people she cares about will end up dead, and in this moment, she can't think of a time when the future has seemed more hopeless.

(The Bones family isn't exactly known for their survival rates, after all.)

"I miss you," she whispers as she blinks back her tears, voice hoarse from crying. "I'm lost and I'm scared Auntie, and- and I miss you."

A gust of wind rustles her curtains, revealing the Big Dipper for the first time that night. Automatically she follows it northward to where Polaris shines brightly.

(_Be strong, Susan. Be strong and have faith._)

* * *

**AN: I recently changed this story's summary to feature a quote from JK Rowling. Unfortunately, due to restrictions on character count, I had to leave out some parts of it. The complete quote is listed below:**

_"This may surprise people, but it is the truth...In many, many ways, Hufflepuff is my favourite House. Here's my reasoning, bear with me. (Again, I don't want to spoil things too much for people who haven't read the whole series, so I'm going to say what I'm about to say quite carefully). There comes a point in the final book where each House has the choice whether or not to rise to a certain challenge, and that's everyone in the House. The Slytherins, for reasons that are understandable, decide they'd rather not play. The Ravenclaws, some decide they will, and some decide they won't. The Hufflepuffs, virtually to a person, stay, as do the Gryffindors. Now, the Gryffindors comprise a lot of foolhardy and show-offy people, that's just the way it is, I'm a Gryffindor, I'm allowed to say it. You know, there's bravery, and there's also showboating, and sometimes the two go together. The Hufflepuffs stayed for a different reason; they weren't trying to show off, they weren't being reckless, that's the essence of Hufflepuff House. Now my oldest child (my daughter, Jessica) said something very profound to me, not very many days ago, actually, she said to me -and she, by the way, was not sorted into Hufflepuff House- but, she said to me, 'I think we should all want to be Hufflepuffs.' I can only say to you, that I would not be at alldisappointed to be sorted into Hufflepuff House." - JK Rowling, Harry Potter: Beyond the Page_


End file.
